The Ariel Helwani Show - 2025 MMA prediction show: Will McGregor fight again? Fights we must see? FOY Awards? Much more

Episode Date: December 23, 2024

Ariel Helwani is joined by The Boys in the Back — NewYorkRic and GC — and Petesy Carroll to look ahead to 2025.They list fights they need to see (04:26) and discuss what will be the biggest stories of next year (19:12).Then, they forecast Breakout Fighter of the Year (31:58), how many new UFC champions will be crowned (49:53), Female Fighter of the Year (53:41), and Male Fighter of the Year (01:02:12) for 2025.Finally, they each make one bold prediction for the year (01:17:23).

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Ariel Hawani Show! The Ariel Hawani Show is back in your life on this final week of December 2024. Yes, it is the final days of the 2024 calendar year. And so, since the holidays are just about to be in full swing, and since we're on our holiday programming schedule, we thought, you know what? We could either go dark. We could either not give you guys anything like we used to do back in the old days

when we were just lazy bums, or we can give you some special holiday programming. And so here we are on this lovely, lovely Monday to look ahead at the year to come in mixed martial arts. Now you may be wondering, all right, so the lads are looking ahead to 2025. Have they looked back at 2024? No, because technically the year isn't done just yet. And I'm a stickler for this. You have to do the award show after December 31st. And so we could have, again, just gone dark and waited. Nah, let's look ahead.

And so, yes, today on the program, we will look ahead to 2025. And of course, on the 6th of January, we will be back doing our live award show. Yes, the 2024 Helwani Knows Awards, the most prestigious award show and the most robust in all of sports, not just combat sports, all of sports. And so today on the program, myself, Rick, GC, Pizzi, we'll all look ahead to 2025. We'll look into our crystal balls. We'll make some predictions, some bold, some not so bold. Talk about fights we want to see. Talk about who we think will be the male

and female fighter of the year. You know, we used to do this on the Ring Ram and May show with 3Pac and it was a grand old time. And I've referenced actually my male fighter of the year pick several times throughout the year. It was Armin Sarukian for 2024. And perhaps, perhaps that will come to fruition for 2025. I missed it for 2024, but it's a fun game. It's a fun time. It's fun to look ahead and prognosticate. And so without further ado, let me say hello to the boys in the back and Pizzi. Who is the boy in the back?

I'm still not sure. I'm not sure. Is it boys in the back and Pizzi? He's one of the boys. I don't want to be in the back. Municipality. Is he in the back? Exists on an island. Yeah. The boys in the back end pt he's one of the boys municipality is he in the back exists on an island yeah the boys in the back and guys guys guys come on it's the holidays let's

come together yeah let's come together let's let's come together well uh i'm sending you love it's great to be here guys it's great to be here 2025 um figures to be a a massive year in mma as dana white likes to say every year gets bigger. Every year they top themselves. And honestly, over the last few years, they have done just that. And it's a very important year for the UFC with their big TV deal coming to a head, their UFC on ESPN deal expiring at the end of 2025. And perhaps that will be a topic that we will talk about on this here program. But you know what? Let's start with a fun sort of fighting topic, if you will. You know, we all are here talking about fights. We're all here, you know, previewing and looking back, recapping all that stuff and more. And so I feel like there are

several fights that are on the horizon, that are perhaps on the cusp of being made, big ones that we're all looking forward to that we're saying, ah, come 2025, we have to see this one. And so let's kick things off with fights we must see in the year 2025. And here's a spoiler for all of you guys. Let me break the fourth wall. None of us know each other's answers for any of these categories, if you will, any of these topics, except for one topic. And it's this topic. And that's why I wanted to get it out of the way. Because On Air Jordan, our fearless producer, told me before the show that we all have some fights mentioned, but the number one pick for each and every one of us, and it's the only category that we're all in unison on for fights we need to see come 2025. There's only one choice at the very top of the list. And of course, it is the heavyweight unification bout in the UFC. It is Johnny Bones Jones versus the pride of Manchester, the one and only. Yeah. That's the one, guys. This is the one.

Each and every one of us, according to On Air Jordan, put it at the very top of the list. PT, are you surprised by this? Absolutely not. It is going to be a story that develops throughout the year. I honestly feel like,

I know Dana's confident. I really hope that that's accurate. And I really hope that this is a quick thing and it's quickly dealt with and we get a date and everything's rosy. But I just don't feel like it's going to be that easy based on John Jones's, his talk about this throughout the year and, you know, how, how up and down he seems to be about it. Um, so yeah, I'd love to see the fight. It's the biggest fight they can make. I agree with everything that Dana White said about this. I think it would be absolutely huge.

And yeah, I really hope it happens. Tom Aspinall deserves it, and I think it's a great fight. Rick, you just made a face when I said that. Do you disagree with this? It was my number two, but I'm being gaslit into pretending that it was my number one. Wait a second, wait a second. What was the number one?

Everyone, stop shouting shit. Okay, first one, but it was my number two. What was the number one? Everyone, stop talking shit. Okay, first of all. It was my number two. First of all, Ben Eubank is not an MMA fight, so that doesn't count. That can't possibly be his number one.

No, no, it was not. Second of all, I feel like I was told by Honor Jordan that this was all our top pick. It was, everybody had it on their list.

Everybody had it higher on their list. It was my number two. It was, so you know what? More fairly, it's a 1 list. It was my number two. It was, so you know what? More fairly, it's a 1B. It's my 1B. What's 1A? Hamzat versus the middleweight champion, whoever it is.

Yeah, fair enough. That's my number one. By the way, it's not even, it's not like, there's no opponent there. What do you mean? I don't need an opponent. Hamzat versus whoever. Hamzat title shot. Title shot.

Hamzat. Because this was my number two as well. Number one. This was my number two. Easy. Haspinall Jones was declared number one. He's already fallen off the rail. Easy.

Easy. Light work. This is almost as bad as Ronda Rousey. No, you are very out of your mind. That take is as bad as the Ronda Rousey one. Yeah, thank you. Really? How do you not want to see the most feared man in the UFC fight for a title?

I didn't mean to derail this because I do want to say Tom Aspinall and Jon Jones is to your point, Ariel, this doesn't have an opponent, right? We don't know who this could potentially be. This could be Drikus, this could be Sean Strickland, this could be anybody in the middleweight

division by the time it happens potentially for Hamzat. Tom versus Jon is an unmissable matchup. It is the two guys that are at the top of the UFC's heavyweight division and seemingly on a collision course. What are the obstacles to make it? We know there is so much potentially that could make it not happen, but I'm optimistic that it will.

I get it. The notion of him fighting is big. It's exciting. Finally, we've been waiting for this. But to even put it in the same stratosphere as Jones Aspinall, which has story and friction and backstory and history attached to it, like, come on, Hamza versus DDP or Strickland, like, those are great fights, but they're not necessarily blockbuster.

You're alone here. You're alone. Wow. PC, come on, back me. No, I actually, Aspinall Jones is my number one far and away. Number two was Hamzat getting a title shot. Mine was two as well,

but the one is out there by a long way. By a long, long way. Wait, you hit the Hamzat thing too in there? Number two? Yeah, the second, yeah. Wow. Hamzat title shot. Wow, this is crazy. I guess I am on the island. Hamzat title shot. Wow, this is crazy.

I guess I am on the island. You're on the island. It was a no-brainer. Listen, I'm interested. I'm excited. In fact, I thought he should get the title shot before Sean Strickland. Like, I wanted him to be next.

I wanted it to be DDP versus Hamzat right now, and apparently DDP wanted the same. But when I think of a fight, like when I think of this particular category, I think of, okay, I need two guys. What is a fight that if by the end of 2025, December 31st, 2025, if this fight doesn't happen, I will be very upset. And it's Jones-Aspinal. It's the easiest one.

Now, there are big fights that we already know are happening, but I'm just saying like a fight that hasn't been made just yet. It's that one. That's the one up there. That's, that's honestly one up there that's that's honestly can i tell you what my number two is my number two is juliana pena against kayla harrison because that hasn't been made just yet i want to see that fight the backstory is great the friction is great like these comes it doesn't even have an opponent attached to it how could you even i know but it's not needed it's 2020 since 2020 this guy like a rocket in this welterweight division, like just the best prospect we've ever seen in the sport.

And since that day, March 2020, whatever it was, we've been saying, this guy's going to fight for a title. This guy is going to fight for a title. All of these obstacles and some of them self-imposed, some of them, you know, self-inflicted damage have happened where he hasn't been able to fight for a title but every time we see him bar maybe the gilbert burns fight and he wasn't all that impressive against usman he looks like a complete destroyer like you surely you understand like there's a want from the fan base to see sure sure sure can take that step and how does and heavy loads of crown how does he do with that pressure we we saw look you look back in his career he folded at a certain point but during that covid thing the pressure the world was on him he had chechen dictators saying that

they're going to get him back into the ring it was it was outrageous what was happening it was crazy i'm not trying to say i'd deal with it any better but what will he look like as a champion can he deliver for this promotion it's already an issue with his geography right now where he can fight and whatnot i think it's a very compelling thing. There's many layers to it. So I think, I think it's a, it's a, it's a good choice. He summed it up nicely.

I've been itching for a Hamzat title shot way longer than I've been itching for a Tom Aspinall battle. Yes. It has been a yearly tradition of mine to bet Hamzat champion by end of 2022, 2023. I have a ticket right now that I'm

about to rip up for 2024 as well. Like, and not even did he even Fight for a title and not win it, he never even got the shot I've been dying to see this man fight for a title You have one for 2025 I'm gonna get one, I always will That'll be my number two behind Aspinall Jones Yeah

I understand that we've been wanting it longer But then a new thing comes along That you want even more Listen, I'm not gonna dog it Because I want to see it as well that we've been wanting it longer, but then a new thing comes along that you want even more. Pretty good. Listen, I'm not going to dog it because I want to see it as well, just not in that stratosphere. And when I think of, okay, two people that I need to see,

that's at the top of the list. And honestly, Kayla versus Juliana is second because I think the build for that is going to be fun. And here I am sitting about, you know, sitting here and saying like, okay, there has to be an opponent attached. I will just say as an honorable mention a scenario that involves a fight that i would love to see

come to fruition in in the year 2025 is the dustin poirier retirement fight in louisiana and in new orleans to be come on again come on i i knew i knew it Yeah, you set yourself up for this. You set yourself up for this. No opponent. No opponent. You set yourself up for this. Not even in the same stratosphere. Not even in the same stratosphere.

This is like the Rankin's thing. Remember he said if someone beats someone, they have to be ahead of the Rankin's. This is wild. And then he lost to Islam and suddenly it was okay. I said it's a scenario. It's a scenario that I want to see him defoosh it. We're five minutes into this and you've already dropped two, not even in the same stratosphere.

It's a feel-good moment. It's a scenario that I want to see. Who wants, are you really going to poo-poo the idea of Dustin Poirier getting a retirement plan in the Bayou? We're poo-pooing your poo-pooing of the Hamza. Your poo-pooing earned the poo-pooing that you now receive. We are poo-pooing your poo-pooing. And I had an opponent attached to it.

No way. On air, Jordan just didn't put it up. No way you shit on us. No way you shit on us for the title shot, and then we show a graphic of Dustin Poirier versus the gloves being laid down in the octagon. I didn't make it. It was a great graphic, but I didn't make it.

I didn't make the graphic. Jordan catching straight. I had nothing to do with the graphic. It was a greatagon. It's a great graphic, but I didn't make it. I didn't make the graphic. Jordan catching straight. I had nothing to do with the graphic. It's a great graphic. It's a nice graphic. Where's my graphics? Slandered for a Hamza title shot when we put this graphic up. You know what?

It's a great graphic. It's a great graphic. Shout out Jordan. It's one of the all-time great graphics. But I just want to say it's a scenario. It's not necessarily a fight. By the way, going back to Aspinall and Jones, is anyone among us of the belief that it doesn't happen?

I think it does. I'm hopeful, man, but I don't know. I can't say either way. I can't go, it's going to happen. It's not going to happen. I'm right there with Pizzi. I'm on the line. I don't know.

I really don't. And nothing anyone could say, apart from the two of them being in the octagon would make me feel like it's going to happen. I wonder if any books are going to offer a line on whether or not it happens. I think it's a matter of circumstance. Truly. The UFC

is going to be halfway through their calendar year and they're going to think do we need this fight or do we not need this fight? We've got a big rights deal coming up. There is an opportunity here. They might just pull out the checkbook and pay John Jones what he needs to make this fight happen. Or they might be flying so high and not need it.

And John Jones stays on the sideline. I really think it's going to be a matter of circumstance for the UFC. If they need John Jones and Tom Aspinall to happen. I keep going back and forth. Yeah. New York fight week, I was like, Jon is trolling. And then post-Stipe fight, I was like, man, I actually think this guy is going to stick to his guns.

And then the Dana comment, 100%, but also the, hey, this is the guy who says publicly he doesn't want to fight him, but privately he does. I don't know what to believe. I'll just say this. I'm leaning towards, I think it happens, but I'm also not going to be surprised if it doesn't happen. Does that make sense? It does. Totally. I think everybody is in that same boat.

And it is also helping your case for the anticipation of it. Like, it makes me want it more. The fact that we're going, like, there's certain, like, I'm fairly certain Hamza will fight for a title as long as he remains healthy, right? There's kind of like a, like a, an assumption of that. And we know there are certain fights that are happening, right? In January, we will have Islam versus Armin. It's a great fight. It's one I've been looking forward to. We know we're going to have it. The fact that we don't know we're going to have it actually makes me want it more and it will continue to kind of elevate the desire for it. So I don't know. I just don't know, but it's an incredible fight. I would love to see it.

I would love to see it at Allegiant Stadium. It's not going to happen. It will probably, if it does happen, go, I mean, it's going to go down at T-Mobile, I would imagine. But I'm still torn, and that's why I have it at the top of my list because it's like I want to see this so bad that we must manifest it we must you can't have it that's what makes or at the moment it seems like you can't have it that's what makes it so enticing anyone else have any other fights that they must see come 2025 must must see that's not already booked that we don't think is a fetta

complete that we must see there's a lot of great fights that we want to see. Shevchenko, Fierro. Yeah. I had that on there. Balal versus Shavkat. I've got some. Poirier versus Holloway. So I'll give you an opponent for your Dustin. I need to see Poirier versus Holloway. That first one was one of the best fights I've ever seen. You want that to be the Poirier retirement fight?

I'm not pushing Poirier into retirement because he looks so damn good. He's not one of those guys that I'm looking at and going like, the best years are behind. Certainly, I don't know if the championship

is going to happen, but at this point, Poirier could fight Holloway, Gaethje, all these guys again, and I'm super happy with it. If it's the last one, great,

because I think Holloway and him are fantastic together, but he could do more. I'm down for it. I had O'Malley versus Jan. I would love to see five rounds of that that one is high on my wish list five rounds of o'malley versus yan is like

that's it i had um kayla and juliana pena i would like to see alex perera versus a heavyweight um i don't have a name not necessarily the champion but just like not necessarily the champion james ervin anderson silva s exactly you give alex perera a heavyweight fight and then maybe he's winner of the potential jones and aspinall and now we're cooking with gas i don't know if it's 2025 though that might be 2026 so i mean if he gets by magomed even if he loses you get a heavyweight fight in after Magomed. That could be something. As you said, win or lose, right? You could go up to heavyweight on a loss the same way he did for light heavyweight.

So Alex versus a heavyweight, I'd be signing up for that. Setting the line at two fights, Alex Pereira over or under? Over. Yeah, hard not to say over. Especially with the way things line up. He last fought in October. He can fight early in 2024. Yeah, it's just...

Through the summer and fall again. I know. Well, I was going to say like, okay, if he comes back in April, maybe he's now missed like the first four months of the year, but his first fight of 2024 was in April and he fought three times in the span of six months. He's the reliable guy when it comes to this.

Yeah. April, July, Madison Square Garden. Three more fights. Who's he fighting at Madison Square Garden? Tom Aspinall for the February draft. Wow. So Aspinall's fighting in July and then November. Aspinall beats Jon Jones.

Wow. Holy shit. International Fight Week, Madison Square Garden. Alex Brer and Tom Aspinall. Go ahead and sign me up for that one. Wow. Cooking. Cooking with gas. PT, any others that you want to mention?

I had Shevchenko Fierro, Ed Pereira, Aspinall on the, if Jones doesn't happen, obviously, Bilal Shavka and Hamza Toilashow. Okay. Pretty boring. Lowest on my list because I'm not 100% sure about it, but I would love it. It's not a need.

It's a want, a real, real want. Amanda Nunes versus the winner of Pena versus Kayla Harrison. I'm with you. That would really make the year feel special. I think it's totally in play. It's just like if Amanda goes, ah, I really am done, I'm okay with that. You know, I'm not going to gripe too much. You know what I think makes this particular topic tough?

It's, it's because, um, as we discussed recently, when you look at the rankings, there's, there's like kind of like a set number one contender and we all presume these fights are going to get made. That's right. Yeah. And so there's no like pie in the sky type fight out there other than Jones versus Aspinall that we're all like, we must have this, this must happen. Um, and so let's And so let's see.

Let's see. What's so great about this sport is that you get to look back a year from now and see all these predictions and just see how abhorrently wrong you are. Like you just were so wrong about things just because it's such like an unguessable game that we're watching. So last year, I remember around this time when PT and I and Chuck were doing our Ringer preview show, I remember saying that my story to watch was Saudi Arabia's influence on the world of combat sports. And obviously, it's heavier towards boxing, but we have seen multiple events and we already know about that February 1st card and who knows what else is to come. We haven't seen the mega, mega event just far in MMA, but I

think it's been, you know, pretty safe to assume that their influence specifically in boxing and in combat sports has been quite significant. And so let's turn our attention to, you know, stories, stories to monitor for this upcoming year, 2025, because I think there are a litany of them. And I'll kick this off because I referenced it at the very top. For me, there's no greater story, there's no more interesting story than the UFC's upcoming rights deal, their TV rights deal, to be specific, here in the United States, because this is going to generate billions of dollars for the UFC. And there is a strong case to be made that of the major sporting organizations out there here in North America, it's the last big rights deal left. Remember,

WWE, their sister company under the TKO umbrella, they recently signed that massive deal with Netflix, NBC Universal for SmackDown and CW for NXT, billions of dollars worth. And they do have a significant deal coming up in 2026 for their pay-per-view rights here in America. It's on Peacock. We'll see if it goes to Netflix, like it has gone to the rest of the world starting in January. But as far as like the NFL, the NBA, the NHL, Major League Baseball, they're not up for quite some time. And so the UFC's TV deal is the last big one left for a little bit of time. And what a fascinating world we live in with the streaming rights and, you know, with the rise of everything online and with these OTT platforms and still, you know, linear TV and with sports still being appointment television,

almost like the last appointment TV thing left and with UFC being so hot as well. So I think that they're going to make billions off of this. I think that they are not going to share a percentage with the fighters. And I think it's going to be fascinating to see how they divvy it up. If I can look into my crystal ball, I think they remain with ESPN. I think that their pay-per-views stay with ESPN+, so they stay exclusively with ESPN+, and I think the pie then gets divvied. Let's say they stay with 43 fights, and I don't think that's a guarantee. I think maybe they can offer up more, and everyone wants to be in business with the UFC

and don't really care about the quality of the cards. I could see a world where it's the 13 pay-per-views are ESPN. And then maybe it's like, you know, 15 to an Amazon and 15 to an ESPN or 15 to an Amazon and 15 to a WBD. God knows who, 15 to a Netflix, 10 to a Netflix, who knows? And then the pay-per-views on ESPN. And historically the UFC hasn't done this. When they were on Spike, they were just on Spike. And there was that period that WEC was on Versus as well. And then the WEC deal ended on Versus, and we had a couple of those UFC on Versus shows. You'll remember Brandon Vera versus Jon Jones, Jon Jones versus Vladimir Matyushenko, Demetrius Johnson versus Dominic Cruz. But those were just a few left, and that was just to end the deal. And then, of course, the Fox deal,

they were exclusive. The ESPN deal, they were exclusive here in the United States. Historically, they haven't divvied the pie. But if you look at the NBA and what they just did with Amazon and with NBC and with ESPN, and you look at what the NFL has done with Fox, with CBS, with Amazon, with Netflix, that's the wave of the future. And I think the UFC is going to get on that train as well. And look at what WWE just did with Netflix and NBC Universal and of course, CW as well. So that to me is the massive story. I can't wait to see how it all unfolds. And do the fighters smarten up and say, wait a second, you guys are going to sign for billions of dollars and we're going to get 0% as opposed to the NBA players who get 50%. Just for an example, NBA 50% of the TV revenue. Do they smarten up and ask for 5%, 6%, 10%? My guess is no, but, you know, it would be wise to do that if you ask me And so that's the one that I can't wait

To see how it all unfolds What do you say GC? What do you say? What are you looking forward to? God I mean that is a fantastic shout I didn't even think of it when I was doing this That's obviously a monster storyline And I would go as far to say That you definitely eclipsed me

In my choosing I'm just saying. I'm giving you credit where credit's due. That's a great shot. I wasn't even thinking of that. I mean, what I initially wrote down, because this was the first category, was does Jon Jones fight Tom Aspinall?

I think that's one that everyone's going to be monitoring. We obviously just went over it in fights that we want to see. But something that Dana White recently alluded to in where the fights will take place was does the UFC do a show in a new country, Spain, South Africa, any of these where they have these champions in countries that they've never been to? So I'm curious as to whether or not we'll see the promotion go to a new land for a live show. Any countries come to mind that they haven't been to? I really want to see Spain.

If DDP remains champion, going to South Africa. Dana White alluded to, he wants to make the sport more global. I don't know if they have enough fighters on the roster. Obviously, very limited. A show in India, he's alluded to. That's just something that I

want to monitor and see if they continue to grow the game. I love that. Rick? My number one was the same as yours. It's the topic of the year. I just wasn't even thinking when I was going through these. Y'all nailed it. Look, there's going to be a lot of these. It's a business angle.

Yeah, it's a business angle more than the fight angle. My number two is more on the fight side, kind of the business side. Will the UFC actually have competition? Will the UFC... Spoiler. Yes, please. kind of the business side uh will the ufc actually have competition will the ufc spoiler have have yes please no uh i i i'm i'm not necessarily looking for somebody to be the ufc's rival that is going to take a long time that is just not going to happen in in 2025 but can we see the the foundation of it right right? We are now looking

at the end of 2024 and there's been, quite frankly, like a little bit of a rough patch on the PFL Bellator side, right? We have now seen some fighters complaining about not getting enough fights. We then saw a tweet from Don Davis saying, we're actually next year going to do our most fights ever. Show me something. That is what I'm looking for in 2025. I need these promotions to show me something that makes me believe I'm looking for in 2025. I need these promotions to show me something that makes me believe that there will be a viable competitor for the UFC. We saw the announcement on our show, on the Ariel Helwani show of the GFL and the ambitious moves that they are making. I need to see something that is going to make me believe that there is

going to be competition for the UFC. If for no other reason than the fighters, the athletes having multiple opportunities elsewhere, if the UFC is not the right home for them. And we're seeing some fighters like Paul Hughes, right, who is being treated super well by the PFL, got in there and is thriving. I want to see if there can be a landing spot that is not the UFC that could be suitable

for some of these athletes. So can the UFC have competition? I'm not expecting that somebody will be their direct rival overnight. It is not going to happen that fast, but let's lay the groundwork. Let's see if there can be a rival promotion. Oh my gosh. It would be what's best for business and healthiest and what's best for the fighters as well to have an outlet to go elsewhere or to have a path if you're not welcome in the UFC. I mean, the best example is Muhammad Makaev, right? They say thanks, but no thanks. And he has to just go to Brave. He didn't want to go to Brave, but there was just no place for him. And a place where you can negotiate to have options. It's great. We were just free agents, right? And we had options and everyone deserves that and everyone should want that. And so it's not like we're trying to, I think,

advocate for someone to take down the UFC, but it's just, it would be nice if there were people that were out there that appear to be competent about how to promote fights and put on the best fights possible and events possible to at least give us, uh, you know, uh, a B side to their a side. Um, and, and look no further than pro wrestling where we saw that over the last couple of years with AW.

What do you say PT? Oh yeah. The broadcast deal. Number two, what becomes a Conor McGregor three, uh, PFLs, Bellator's disgruntled fighters for,

and then the jock, the Johnson class action suit, which could still have massive changeable impact on ufc contracts and things like that it it doesn't look 100 that that will happen um lots of stuff has to go down for that to be possible there's all kind of loopholes involved i think that's big but i'm with gc the jones aspirin saga and the reason why i picked this is because it will be talked about more than anything all year, I believe. Um, you only have to look back to Nganou v. Jones and that saga.

And I call it a saga because that's what it was. It was first of all, Jones won't fight. Then it was Francis won't fight. Then we had this whole free agency situation where Francis was had to go in and go against their promotion as well as Cyril Gann. I think it's going to be a long drawn out thing. Um, I hope it isn't, but based on what happened with Ngannou and Jones and the same kind of things being said by Jones around that time, I think we're, we got to strap ourselves in

for a long one here, boys. Yeah, I agree. I'm curious about Francis Ngannou's future as well. One fight left on his PFL deal. Does he box? Does he come back? Who are they going to get for him to fight? And, you know, more to that point, you mentioned PFL and Bellator.

How does this all shake out? Do they, do they absorb Bellator? Is Bellator no more by the end of the year? Where are the Bellator fights airing in 2025, specifically here in the United States? Where's PFL going to air after 2025 as well? Their deal is coming up too. There's a lot of questions to be asked and answered for the, you know, the future of that company and where they go, what their direction will be. Of course, I do think an interesting story will be GFL too. Do they get off the ground? Are their plans as ambitious?

As ambitious as they are, are their plans going to come to fruition or are they going to fizzle? There's a lot there. And you did mention Conor McGregor. That always is a story. Does he fight in 2025? What becomes of him? Does he fight in the UFC becomes of him um you know does he does he fight in the ufc how does that relationship evolve because right now it doesn't seem to be in the

best spot just based off of some of dana white's recent comments um and and obviously jones aspinall i i couldn't agree with you more uh that is going to be a saga now i think beginning of the year it won't be talked about as much but as we get into like march april may people are going to be like okay so what the hell is going on here and in particular i think once that ufc london card yes um you know goes down on march 22nd because there's going to be a spotlight on the sport in the uk and a lot of questions will be asked in my opinion i think the um it's it's a great shout and i think you're right like that story will kind of amplify as the year goes on i think there's a real chance for the contract part of it that the tv deal which as i said was my number one as well to either be massive right if it if it's a

change in direction if they take the whole package and send it to netflix if they split it up and they're in three different broadcast partners and we're talking us-based um i think that could have massive impact and a lot of implications now you're telling your mma fans who have been so used to getting it in their one place to now split the package up um or it could be completely boring and they could re-sign with espn and the and the train keeps rolling and there's really not a lot of drama to it so it has the potential to be an insanely big story or it could potentially be pretty boring and just more of the same but um no matter where they land the the amount of money that is going to be paid for the ufc is

going to be astronomical and there is going to be a real impact to the live sports industry yeah and speaking of that uh class action lawsuit that pt referenced we still have to see how the other one you know kind of that's right that's. Like the judge still has to say, okay, I'm good with this, uh, with this arrangement and with this, um, with this agreement, uh, that they, that they came to, to not allow it to go to, to trial. So yeah, a lot of businessy stuff.

I love that type of stuff. I love the business side of the fight game. So let's see how all of that pans out and we shall be covering it all on our all on our full slate of shows, which you can catch every Monday through Friday here on the Uncrowned Network. Okay, let's talk about breakout fighters, guys. At the end of 2025,

you know, we do the picks, right? And we'll do our picks at the beginning of January. We have a category called Breakout Fighter of the Year. Who is going to be the Breakout Fighter of the Year. Who is going to be the Breakout Fighter of the Year Pizzi for 2025?

I've got Peyton Talbot. He's starting in January against Reani Barcellas. He is ranked on topology. He's ranked 33. I think he can jump up very, very quickly. And I think he's going to be one of the main talking points coming out of that January card anyway.

Despite it being stacked, this guy is special. You said it the first time you talked to him, Ariel. You put us through to his YouTube channel. He's got a different vibe to him. I'm going with him. I think he's going to be absolutely brilliant. He looks like a superstar, ready-made for the UFC. And I'm expecting big things for him in 2025.

I'll just piggyback very quickly. That's my pick as well. I'm blown away by him. Not just his aura and his personality and his YouTube channel, but he's a tremendously talented fighter. He's fighting at the beginning of the year. That's very notable as well, because that means you'll probably get at the very least three fights. He seems to have the entire package and they're moving him up appropriately. they're not like pushing him too quickly i think i'm worried about the haircut i'm not gonna lie sometimes when you mess with

that sort of thing like the hair is gone and does that take away from some of the aura um anyone familiar with mac hollins the buffalo bills wide receiver he's got a very mac hollins vibe mac hollins doesn't wear shoes. He walks outside in Buffalo barefoot. Brings himself. Yeah. He's a character just like Payne Talbot.

Payne Talbot is my pick for breakout fighter of the year come the end of 2025. What about you, Rick? So I just want to get out there before I answer this. Instructions unclear, right?

What's unclear? What's unclear? In the email it said, breakout fighters, didn't even let him explain. Friends, not prospects. That was 2020, mate. Yeah, could we get his 2025?

This is 2020. No, no, it said, breakout fighters, bracket, friends friends not prospects right i did see that as well so so my thought was oh clearly like you know we're looking for like who's gonna go the furthest distance right who's gonna start in one start in one point and then and then go further right and so who's gonna break from this level to this level i mean he's about to fight for the belt.

He's already broken out. It was the not prospects part. The not prospects, right? The prospects means someone outside the UFC, I guess. Well, as I said, instructions unclear, right? Peyton Talbot clearly a prospect, so not really following the instructions there. Sounds a little insulting towards Peyton.

I'd be very offended if I were Peyton Talbot. That he's a prospect? What would you consider him? Well, on his way, he's a U.C. veteran. offended if I didn't tell you that. That he's a prospect? What would you consider him? Well, on his way, he's a U.C. veteran. He's a U.C. veteran. See, now I'm being gaslit again, just like last time. Alright, so my list is a little bit different, but we're going to go with No, wait a minute!

On-air Jordan says everyone else understood the ask. Yeah, because they can't read clearly. The not prospects part in the in the little in the little back is in a book club he can read he can read very well i asked jordan for three straight days hey did i miss the mark on the prospects on the on the breakout fighter thing i want to just the the prospects thing threw me off i just want to make sure i'm on the right tone i've asked jordan for three days now. Three days I've checked

in on this. He's been waiting for this. He's been waiting for this opportunity to throw me under the bus. I don't care. I'm going to stay Hamza. You know what? He's the number one contender now. You know what he's going to be in 2025? The champion of the UFC and not only that,

a future legend of this sport. This man, I am so sure that Hamzat is going to be... He's your breakthrough fighter. Oh, he's the breakout and fighter of the year. No, no, no. Fighter of the year is somebody else. We'll talk about that later. How could that even be after this? I don't think he's going to fight that much. I don't think he's going to fight that much.

All right. But he'll still be the breakout fighter. Hamzat, breakout. Hamzat, my next fight, assuming for the title, 9 million followers on Instagram It's going to go to 20 Massive global superstar It's going to be a big year for him I actually will defend Rick

The not prospects thing did also throw me off I had a decent amount of rank guys Oh yeah, you picked Peyton Talbot Veteran Not prospects I did not choose Peyton Talbot But I did stay in 135 I'm not not choose Peyton Talbot But I did stay in 135 I'm not going with Peyton Talbot

I'm going with Vinicius Lockdog Oliveira 2-0 in 2024 The amazing flying knee Back in March against Sopad And then a massive win Against Ricky Simone As a huge underdog

Plus 210 back in June. And now he also fights earlier in the year in Saudi Arabia against Saeed Nurmagomedov. We could see him ranked. If he continues to put on highlight reels like that, I could see him being a breakout fighter. I like that one. That to me is quintessential breakout fighter of the year nominee. Because I'm thinking about breakout fighter for 2024. It's like a Carlos Paredes type, maybe even a Joaquin Buckley, if you will.

I wouldn't necessarily put like Armin Sorokin, who's about to fight for the belt in that spot. Or Radovalos Vili. Champion. Different strokes, different folks. Okay, so again, the measurement here Is starting here In the end of 2024 and where they'll be As an example, right? Jorge Masvidal Veteran, right? Would he not have been

The breakout fighter of 2019? Would you argue Against that? Would you have said He's breaking out of title contention What? Jorge Masvidal was Not a breakout fighter in 2019 Most improved He was not a breakout fighter in 2019 No, he most improved. He was not a breakout fighter in 2019. No, he wasn't. He was a

17-year veteran. I do have the notes right here. It does say breakout fighters. When I say... People like to do this rookie of the year thing, which I think is nonsense. You could have just said that. I mean, it's a little instruction. Clearly, three-fourths

understood. Jordan? I'm just thinking at a different level. I'm just going to say that. Different planes. I'm 135 deep, man. I'm operating on a different plane, you know? Another name, by the way, that I wanted to highlight was Amon Zahabi.

And not because we look alike, but he had a great 2024. He had a great 2023. I think he's really coming into his own. I thought he looked great in his last fight. He's climbing the ladder slowly but surely for the longest time. He was just known as Faraz Ahabi's kid brother. And now I think he's turning into a force. And it's been a long time since we've had a force come out of TriStar in Montreal. And so that's a name that's on my mind.

And one more, if I may, Lerone Murphy. What about the miracle? I had Lerone Murphy as well. That's a good if I may, Lerone Murphy. What about the miracle? I had Lerone Murphy as well. That's a good shout. I like Lerone Murphy a lot. I presume he'll be fighting in the first quarter. What's so funny?

Why are you laughing? I said I got to admit, I'm still confused. What makes Lerone? What is the similarity between Lerone and Peyton Talbot? Lerone is a top-ranked guy. But he could really break out. What is the break?

What is the break? Break is like, break, you become a part of the general conversation. Oh, so that's what's going to happen for Hamza in 2025. So I got it right. I'm actually going to be transparent and I'm going to own up to something here.

I'm looking at my list. I actually ricked it. Yeah. On my list. What? Tatiana Suarez. Yeah, Tatiana Suarez is on my list as well. She's second on my list.

In February, I ricked it. I definitely ricked it. But she was not my number one. Okay, so we're on the same page and these guys over here. I also ricked it X2, another one that I had on there and just follow along with me,

Kaya Sikora. I'm going to say he's going to fight throughout 2025, but we're going to see just how exciting he is. He's going to get wins. Everyone's going to appreciate his cool style, and he's going to become a fan favorite. You know what it is? Way more acceptable than Hamza.

It's the ringer guys. They have some reps doing this. PT understands the language of of quote, not prospects. Me, on the other hand, I'm like, oh, Peyton Talbot, young man in the game, barely any UFC fights, clearly a prospect. That would make a lot of sense for us to not pick him. So, not on the same page.

I'm giving myself the Barry H. Before the fight was even announced, I had Nasr Dineen Mubab on there. Now he's fighting Israel Hassani. Okay, so how... I've done. Michael Morales. I had Nasir Dineen Mubab on there. Now he's fighting Israel Hassani. Okay, so how... I've done it. Michael Morales.

I have Michael Morales. Michael Morales, good job. Natalia Silva. I have Joshua Vann. Nice, shout out. Joshua Vann's very good. Yeah, yeah. Marcus McGee is another one I have.

Speaking of Joshua Vann. Okay, does this count? Does Dakota count or is she already broken out? I'm still unclear. I don't understand the exercise. And what are we breaking through? Okay, so everybody else is unclear too.

Okay, good. From being unknown. By the way, Rick, we've done award shows for like 11 years now. We've never gotten hung up on breakout fighter of the year. Why are we so hung up on the term? I think we're reviewing it.

It was the brackets. The brackets. The planet choice. This is the look ahead rather than looking back. Yeah, we're not picking who broke up. If Tatiana Suarez

becomes UFC champion and let's say she defends her title once. I know that's a big ask. She doesn't seem to fight all that often. She's not the breakout fighter of the year.

She's the female fighter of the year. She could be. Why not both? I mean, it's very rare that the male or female fighter of the year is also the breakout It happens I think Sean Strickland did it last year

It happens because it's like a meteoric rise But how often does that happen It's fine Charles Johnson could be another one Charles Johnson 4-0 great fighter Can I say something about Like a Charles Johnson Charles Johnson is 4-0

as of late, but not really in the discussion, right? He's not really in that title picture. But maybe by the end of 2025, he is in that title picture. You're breaking into the discussion. Yes. That, to me, is what breakout fighters do. I've said that four times.

PT did say that multiple times. Yes, thank you. I'm still a bit confused. Look, you know, the instructions breaking into the discussion. We're gonna have a full paragraph break in next breaking out of the pack breaking out of the pack and into this like higher echelon yeah category okay um we won't mess that one up oh frankie frankie do you have uh no actually who's yours john jones go ahead for gc uh john jones beats tom aspen is that a actual necklace that you're wearing or did you plug in some lights and like wrap a part of a loop around you i've been wondering the whole time you know that's actually a great question

because of the lights behind you like it really does look like you just plugged into the wall and like wrapped it around your neck did the lights just go out as soon as you did that well all right they're all not they seem that they seem like they're on. The mystery has been solved now. So, all right. No, you actually make a great point. It could be both, but this is, I purchased it as a necklace. I purchased it as a necklace. Been over here worried about you.

What's the sock called again? Stocking? Stocking, yeah. Yeah. And do you actually put gifts in there? Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So what's the difference between the stocking gifts?

Oh, there it is. Thank you, Frank. Hey, Rick, a little yeah. So what's the difference in the stocking gifts? Oh, there it is. Thank you, Frank. Hey, Rick, a little glitz and glitter there. What's the difference in the stocking gifts and the under the tree gifts? All right, so stockings are little things. Yep. Stocking's going to be like a chocolate orange

and maybe like a $10 Starbucks gift card. Maybe a puppy. Well, what? A little dog under the tree. Like chapstick Some aftershave maybe You know Wow

Something small The presents under the tree Are going to be like Actual real gifts And how many Do you put in the stocking? Fill it Yeah sometimes

You just fill it up Stocking stuffers Got it So you just like Throw all kinds of stuff in there Just a bunch of bullshit in there That'll probably just get thrown But it's great

It's great man When you're a kid And you feel that hip That the old stock stockings full of shit like you are you are pumped do you do the stocking before the under the tree gifts pz yeah well santa used to leave one on the door the the bedroom door oh it's so good nip around and you'd be like oh shit yeah god that gets my juices flowing there's nothing like could i have stockings first then you go under the tree Living in a mansion he probably was afraid to go in right

He didn't live in a mansion his whole life He's a wreck He built his brick by brick This is a little too high class for me I'm going to leave the clips outside Did you guys actually Escape the mean streets to get to Blanche This is how it happened

Did you guys actually experience the wake up in the morning, come down, and the trees? You experienced that thing that you see in the movies. Over and over and over. I'm going to do it again this year. I'm so jealous. When they say Christmas magic... They carry it all over the garden. To say Rudolph was here. Oh, I love it.

You put the cookies out. A glass of milk. When you say Christmas magic, it really was like, there was like a feeling that I can never recapture of being a kid and celebrating Christmas. Okay, really quickly. Nothing like it. Really quickly. What age did we stop believing in Santa Claus?

Oh, believing it was like 10, but like when did the Christmas magic leave? You still got excited for Christmas until probably like 14, 15. But 10 is like, there's no Santa. 10 is like, we're done. I guess like maybe when you could. It's funny, like you pretend that, there's a time where you're just pretending that you don't know.

Yeah, you keep going along with it because you think maybe the kids will stop if you admit it. But we, the kid down the road told me when I was like six and I was like, is he serious? And he was like, no. And then we brought our beat him up

and I was like, well, why are you beating him up then? If it wasn't, you know what I mean? Yeah. Because you can't spread those blasphemous lies. The only thing that I can equate to all of this, which I love, and I'm jealous that I've never been able to experience it, is my 12-year-old just lost his last tooth.

And he was like, hey, can you let the tooth fairy know that I'm putting the tooth under my pillow? And I would appreciate $20. Is that what teeth are going for these days? I was like are we still doing this? Are we still doing this? And I did not put any money Wow To be honest I actually feel bad

This conversation Just reminded me like shit Did you leave the tooth as well? He woke up And there was just a tooth still there. Probably. He didn't mention it, though. Wow. He didn't even mention it?

He didn't mention it. He might have forgotten. No, that's confirmation. It's heartbroken. I'm sending an email to myself just with Tooth and hoping that. Send him an email, hey, about the Tooth Fairy mishap. Wow. You know they have like a reminders app on the phone.

You don't have to email it. I don't do that. I don't know how to use that thing. I don't know what to do. To-do list. There's plenty of ways. Modern technology. That scene that you guys were just talking about reminds me of that commercial.

What's the commercial, PZ? John Lewis. John Lewis. Do you guys know about the John Lewis commercials? No. I don't know what this is. Oh, my God. PZ, tell them about the John Lewis commercials. John Lewis. Do you guys know about the John Lewis commercials? No. I don't know what this is. Oh, my God. PT, tell them about the John Lewis commercials.

Real quick. It's a supermarket in the UK, and they bring out an iconic Christmas ad every year. Elaine gets very excited for it every year. She's not too happy with the one this year, Ariel. I think we told you that. Sisters, yeah. Yeah, but she loved The Man on the Moon. She used to wait for this ad to come on, and then she'd be weeping watching the ad.

Explain what the ad is before you talk about the reaction. I have the one for this year up. It's two minutes long. No, no. Explain it. Explain it. I can't really explain it. I can't.

I can't really do it. I can explain it. It's explainable. Why is it so emotional? Because of the ritual of it? It's about Christmas, you know, and then this old man's by himself, and you're like, oh, fuck's sake, mate. There's literally a Wikipedia page dedicatedicated to the John Lewis Christmas advert

It's an ongoing television advertising Campaign released by British department store Chain John Lewis and partners in the build up to Christmas Wow GC you have to watch the one There's one that is of It's about Elton John And it's a little kid

I'm getting chills just talking about it And he comes down the stairs And he sees his present And it's a little kid I'm getting chills just talking about it and he comes down the stairs and he and he sees his present and it's a piano he rips it open and it's a piano it's a little kid he's like five years old and then he starts playing what's the song that he plays PT it's um the tiny dancer no it's not tiny dancer it's another classic Elton John and then it goes through all the years no not Benny the Jets and Jets. And it goes, ah, it's going to kill me. What's the song? What's the song?

Rocket Man. No, it's not Rocket Man. Elton John. I mean. Piano Man. No, it's not Elton John. That's Billy Joel, man. No, you guys suck.

What is the one? What is the one? Your song. This one. Oh, that's it. I know, I know, but I need you guys to. Your song. Your song. There it is. Yeah, I'm looking at it right now. Thank you. Thank you. And it goes. The 2018't play this song. I know, I know, but I need you guys to. Your song. Your song.

There it is. Yeah, I'm looking at it right now. Thank you. Thank you. And it goes. The 2018 advert. So good. It makes me cry every single time I watch it. And I love the fact that this is a thing that everyone.

And then there's like, there's parodies of the commercials and whatnot, or there's parodies of the. Is there no Christmas special there? We have the Corona commercial where it's just the house and then the palm tree. Yeah, I love that. I love that. And the guy's whistling. But that's like a 30-second.

Yeah. It's not a show. Budweiser used to do one every year with the Clydesdales. There used to be one. The M&M's one where they're walking through and they're like, Santa!

And the one of the saints. Oh, I remember that. That's another legendary one. But there's no variety show you guys all watch around Christmas. The whole country's like, oh, it's on legendary one. There's no variety show. He's all watch around Christmas. Like the whole country is like, oh, it's on to be clear.

These are the look ahead ads that we're looking for. It's really just, it's a wonderful life on Christmas Eve on NBC. That's really like the one I feel tradition, but nothing like that. You know how it goes guys. It's a little bit funny. This, that one's crying i actually love that i do love that song i'm not one of those who can easily hide i don't have much money But boy if I did Give it to me Frank I'd buy a big house

Where we both Could live And it's the kid through the years It's fantastic We couldn't agree on breakout guys But hopefully we can agree on the Description of this particular category TBD

How many New UFC champions will they'll be at the end of 2025? So there are currently 11 weight classes, which have champions at the top of them in the UFC. Uh, some have an interim champion. How many by the end of 2025 will have a new champion in those weight classes?

GC, what do you say as the prognosticator of the group? My guess is seven. Seven? Yep. And I'm not even, honestly, I'm not even asking which weight classes. My guess is seven. And unfortunately, I thought I was being smart, but if I'm doing the math correctly,

I actually think there were seven new champions this year. Well, let's go through the math. Pantoja retained, so not him. Murab, new champion. Ilya, new, so not him. Murab, new champion. Ilya, new champion. Islam retained. Bilal, new champion. DDP retained, right?

Ah, DDP new champion. Juan, January. Yes, you're right, four. Alex Pereira, no, retained. John Jones retained. Valentina, new champion. Zhang Weili retained. And Juliana, new champion. Zhang Weili retained. And Juliana, new champion.

So six. Raquel Pennington, new champion. Oh, yeah. Nice. Wait, but does that count? Because it's by the end of the year. Yeah. You're talking about how many times did it change?

Now we've got another problem on our hands. Instructions unclear I don't think that counts And you teed this up with I think we can all agree on this one By the end of the year So how many of the 11 divisions Will be

I'm going to stick by my guns And say 7 That's a lot PT 6 new champions Murab, Bilal, DDP, Jones, Zhang, and Peña Loser titles Wow

Exactly Yo, Pizzi with the info Exactly Can I digest that? Go a little slower? Yeah, go slower on those names Murab, Bilal, DDP, Jones, Zhang, and Peña Loser titles

Now are you going to say who beats them Or you're just like They will lose It's predictable Maga Maga Shavkat Hamza Aspinall Suarez Now, are you going to say who beats them, or you're just like, they will lose? It's predictable. Maga Maga, Shavkat, Hamzat, Aspinall, Suarez. Wow. Wow, this is amazing insight.

I mean, you've just gone right into the crystal ball. Yeah, we just ripped it. Rick? I've got four. Okay. I'm not going to say which four, but I've got four. Okay. Go, set of balls.

Is that boring? Yeah, I'll say which four. Uh, I think there will be a new welterweight champion. I think shop cuts gonna hold that title. I think there'll be a new middleweight champion. I think it's obvious which one I think on that one. Uh, after the start of the show,

heavyweight, there will be a new champion because I don't like at some point, they're going to have to stop waiting. Either John's going to fight and it'll be Tom or, uh, John will relinquish. So we'll have a new heavyweight champion and i think tatiana is gonna win a strawweight all right uh i'm gonna go with five i kind of went back and forth between five and six four five six seven yeah i am not going to tell you who the new champions are going to be because

i don't know who it's gonna to be. Yeah. Shit happens. That's fucking bullshit. I mean, it's just, I don't want to... Yeah, no, don't put yourself in that position. Too many people. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But five. And so I think, yeah.

So none of us agreed, right? Yeah, it's amazing. No, four, five, six. Okay, now let's do new Bellator champions by the end of the year. No, I'm kidding. Oh, he was one. Yeah. Now let's do new Bellator champions by the end of the year. No, I'm kidding. Oh, he was one. Yeah.

Shout out to the boy. New Road to Dubai champion series champions. No, no. The Bellator strap isn't mine. I know. I'm just being silly. All right. Let's talk about female fighter of the year.

This time next year, well, it'd probably be like, it's kind of crazy. Like our next award show after this one will be January of 2026 It's moving fast Life man This is an emotional show We're just really like reflecting We're doing Christmas traditions

We're doing consumerism These commercials that you guys are balling over This is tough here I'm actually watching the John Lewis ad. You've got to listen to it because you'll really cry. Rick, who will be the female fighter of the year in 2025? I've got Valentina Shevchenko. Wow.

Because I think she's going to be active. And that is one of, I've learned having done these for so many years, the activity is the key. It's always the key. Now, certainly, you can get into these conversations having done these for so many years, the activity is the key. It's always the key there. Now, certainly you can get into these conversations with the strength of how good your wins are, but what's going to matter more is how many of those big time wins you can put

together. And I think Valentina is going to be active. That is, that is where I'm, I'm kind of leaning here. I think she'll retain her title. And so I think she'll be able to rack up a few title defenses and, and be the selection.

Don't hate it. I wonder, so Valentina, I mean, she could get two or three in there. She'll get two or three in. Yeah.

And that'll be enough. You know, female fighter is a tough one. We're going to get into it for this past year and I don't think it's an easy one because they typically,

you know, have the female champs fight once, twice max. That's the thing. The activity is what limits. But then you have those odd cases where

someone, you remember, I think it was last year, Lupe Godinez fought four times. And so it's like, is the 4-0 better than the two title defenses or the one title win, the title defense? It's a tough one, but obviously hard to argue

against Valentina Shevchenko. GC? All right. It's more just it pains me to do it. Uh-oh. I know what you're going to say. This is, this is, take a deep breath. Just take a deep breath for a moment here.

Take a deep breath. I know exactly what you're going to say. Everybody knows. Remember, is the juice worth the squeeze? I think it is in this case. Wow. Zhang Weili. Wow.

Wins at 115 Against Tatiana Suarez 125 Valentina Shevchenko Defends against Manon Fioro Zhang Weili Goes up to 125 And

Goes for Double champ status And wins there And ends the year With two belts Okay so Wow I like this for two reasons

Number one Because you thought I was going to betray my girl You thought I was going to Betray Juliana thought I was going to betray Juliana Pena Because none of y'all believe in her ability to retain the strap Against Kayla Harrison Did you throw the curveball our way? I saw Jordan teeing up a graphic that said Kayla Harrison

I was like what is this man Listen listen Just love the record show I said which titles are going to change hands And I did not include women's bantamweight So Juliana we love you Okay well Okay, well, here's the thing. Here's the interesting thing about it. I believe it was Rick who said Tatiana Suarez is... No, or was it...

Who said Tatiana Suarez, breakout fighter? GC and me. I said Tatiana Suarez. Wait, GC, how could Tatiana Suarez be breakout fighter if Zhang beats her? They could potentially be. Feels like you're hedging here. Just ask me. I'll do it. PT, go ahead. Kayla Harrison. Yeah.

Ooh. Level of disrespect. Come on. Come on. I don't care. I don't care. I don't care. Come on.

Come on. I like being right. Yeah, we do. We love Kayla. I like being right. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Is that actually, if that gets made,

Juliana Pena versus Kayla Harrison, is that actually a two-belt fight? Not only will we be fighting for UFC gold, but they will also be fighting for the fourth spot in the parlay pass. Wow, that's big. I don't know if we can. I don't know if we can.

You want steaks? I don't know if we can. You like steaks? Medium well. Okay, I will ask a similar question, though. Is that like your front runner, though, for female fighter of the year? It feels like that will be the most significant, right? We had it on our fights that we're anticipating list, the fights that we're most looking forward to, the fight that you'll need.

It feels like the winner of that fight is going to have the driver's seat, right? Like that is the most significant fight we're going to get in female MMA unless Amanda Nunes comes back on the back end of that. Now the winner facing them, but whoever wins that fight could conceivably then face Amanda Nunes. If you get those two wins, that's, that's, I mean, it's done.

It's done. It's done. Juliana would be incredible in that spot. If she beat Kayla, she would be brilliant. Like she would use that platform so well. Kayla drumming up the Amanda Nunes was my training partner. Then she left the sport.

I thought I was never going to get this fight. Someone's picked her as female 40-year-old, mate. You don't need to do that. It's amazing how uninteresting 135 is, except for this thing at the top. The two. A thousand percent. There is nothing beyond this. It's so good.

And it's maybe the juiciest storyline of all the women's weight classes. These are all great picks. And I'm going to abstain from the drama. I want nothing to do with it. And for me, it comes down to this. I'm loyal. And I'm a loyal guy. I'm an in-the-trenches guy.

And so I just, I can't, I can, you know, I cannot make a pick. Could be bothered. Yeah, I could be bothered. Wow, you abstain from the whole category, huh? No, of course not. We have to go with the two-time Olympic gold medalist. Wow. Who is going to, at the end of the year,

it's because of the Amanda Nunes situation. I think she beats Amanda Nunes. I don't know what happens in that other fight, but Kayla Harrison will be the female fighter. Whoever wins that fight has to get on the mic and pull the Michael Chandler. No worries to either. Amanda Nunez! You gotta come

back and fight somebody! Wait, whoever wins or loses? Whoever wins. I'm so confused about this conversation. You're so... You're melting me head here, lads. What are we saying? I picked Valentino. What's confusing?

I picked Zhang Weili. Yeah, what's confusing? You going, she's going to fight Amanda Nunes. At the start of the show, you were like, how can you say Hamza? He doesn't have an opponent. Now you're saying when she beats this person who's retired at the end of the year, she will be fired a year. What are you talking about?

You know what, PT? I mean, they say some things about you, but you're a smart man. You're picking up what I'm putting down. By the way, one has nothing to do with the other. It does. You asked me what's the fight I want to see, and you guys said Hamzat versus a fictitious character. And then you said Dustin Correa versus Amanda Nunes,

who's a retired fighter. I just threw that in there as an honorable mention. I didn't tell them to make a graphic. I just said I would like to see this scenario play out. Okay, sorry. I could have put it in the story I want to watch. It's like one plus one does not equal two. Now, as far as Kayla versus Amanda, some things need to happen,

but I'm saying after it happens, she will be the female fighter of the year. What's confusing about it? Let's go around. Do we think Amanda versus the winner of Pena and Harrison is going to happen? Yes. Do we believe that Amanda is coming out? Are you more confident? I do too. Are you more confident in the winner? Youena and Harrison is going to happen. Yes. Do we believe that Amanda's coming out? Are you more confident? I do too.

Are you more confident in the winner? You think 2026, PT? I think it could be, yeah, absolutely. More confident in the winner of Kayla Harrison, Juliana Pena fighting Amanda Nunez getting made or Tom Aspinall versus John Jones? Oh, definitely more of that. Former.

Amanda Nunez. Yeah, yeah, definitely. Wow. There's no real economics attached to that john jones i guess this is a retired fire coming back though john jones has i mean is john john jones basically a retired fire uh like john jones spent the entire last little stretch being like i'm not fighting unless they really make it worth my while meanwhile amanda nunez is as soon as they're on the screen she's posting instagram videos can't

wait to get back in there. So I'm super confident. I don't know if it'll be 2025, though. To Pizzi's point, maybe it's 2026. But I think she will fight them next. Yeah, I think if either wins, she'll be like, oh, yeah, you just got the belt. You're doing a lot more than that. Like, you're going to have to do a lot more than that to get me out of retirement.

You know, and that would be fair, to be honest. Yeah, I think it would be easier to make either of those fights. Yeah. It might be harder to make the Kayla fight because maybe she's been in there with her and she doesn't have the same type of confidence because she already beat Juliana Pena.

By the way, throwing out a pie in the sky fight that I wish I mentioned earlier, Dakota Decheva against Valentina Shevchenko, never, never going to happen. No, not going to happen, but would be magnificent. I'm in. Yeah.

That would be, that would be incredible and i would i mean dakota has been incredible truly though shavchenko's a great fight though it is it is fantastic i just i'm not confident that they will fight enough this is the problem with like where are the like we just need to up the number of women's titles fights at this point like can the champion compete like it'd be great i I'd like to see more. I agree. I agree. More than one defense? More than one defense a year, please, from the women's champions.

I would love this. All right, let's talk about male fighter of the year. Male fighter of the year. This time next year, who is the consensus male fighter of the year? Pete, you go first. So, I have an asterisk here because I think

it'd be Tom Asimov who beats John Jones because it's a huge fight. But Shavkat Rachmaninoff is my safe pick here. Wow. That's who I'm going for. So, so what's, what's the roadmap here? You think he fights Bilal, obviously beats him and gets one more in there?

Yeah. Let's be honest. By the time they fight, it's probably May, June, you know what I mean? Yeah. I think he takes out Shavka and then possibly. No, he takes out Bilal. Sorry.

He takes out Bilal and then he'll take out possibly the winner of whoever Leon fights. I think that would be a good one. I think that's likely. And honestly, there's so many good opponents at welterweight that i feel like it'll be statements if he if he does record two wins there'll be big wins you know they'll be making statements with the wins and i also think because of the way the fight went with ian it wasn't the most exciting fight it was a very close fight um i think if he comes back and he performs like the Shavkat of old, it will be a massive exclamation mark for the fan base. That's a good shout.

That's a great shout. What do you think, GC? All right. July, International Fight Week. Dana White said 100%. Yeah. 100% this fight gets made. I've never known that man to lie.

I've never known him to say one single thing that isn't the truth and nothing but the truth. That fight gets made. International Fight Week. Tom Aspinall, Jon Jones. Tom Aspinall becomes the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. And then, like I said, Madison Square Garden. Alex Pereira comes up to heavyweight.

Tom Aspinall takes care of business there. Retains the belt 2-0 over two of the biggest stars in the sport. Fighter of theweight. Tom Aspinall takes care of business there. Retains the belt 2-0 over two of the biggest stars in the sport. Fighter of the Year, Tom Aspinall. I love it. That's a great one. Would love to see all that come to fruition. And honestly, you can make a case if he just fights once

in 2025 and it's a win over Jon Jones, that could be enough for Fighter of the Year, right? If he's the first guy to actually beat Jon Jones, and let's say he does it in super that could be enough for fighter of the year right if he's the first guy to actually beat john jones and uh like let's say he does it in in like super impressive fashion he knocks him out or something crazy he submits him how is he not the fighter of the year one and oh i think it is entirely possible you have to think of it as like i think of it as like a point system a win over john jones is worth x number of points a win over you know random contender is worth x number of points you add up the points one win over john jones could be equal to three wins over these

other guys like you just you just have to do that i think it it's very possible it is extremely possible rick your pick i'm gonna go with alex perera um for the last umpteenth years 10 going on years i always pick john jones for Jones for this because I'm deluded and crazy and sick in the head and think that Jon Jones is going to come back and fight. I pick Jon Jones every single year. Now, also every single year, I pick Alex Pereira as my fighter of the

year when we do the look back. I'm just going to break that cycle. We're just going to start it now. It's going to be Alex Pereira because it's always Alex Pereira because he's the only one that every time the UFC calls, he answers the call and fights enough to do it. There's a scenario here where Alex Pereira gets past Magomed and Kalaev, and then he does potentially have a matchup maybe at the end of the year. And maybe that's against one of these gentlemen that GC has been talking about. And you know what? I kind of like Alex Pereira's chances

against both of those gentlemen. So I'm just going to ride the Alex train. I feel like if he gets three fights in, he's going to be in the driver's seat. If he gets one of those massive heavyweight fights, he's going to be in the driver's seat. Now, he has some business to do with Magomed Ankhalaev, but if he can clear that,

that next fight I think is going to be massive. And you know that he'll show up. And that is it. Like, I'm banking on reliability this year. Valentina Shevchenko, she will show up. She will pick up wins. Alex Pereira will show up and will pick up wins. I'm banking on Alex.

What's interesting about that is arguably his toughest test is his next fight. This is the hard one. Right? So, yes, if he does get by, Magomed, maybe not the biggest name, the sexiest name, but if he gets by him, all right, you know, there are some potentially huge fights and some winnable fights.

Not to say that the Ancalaya fight. Yeah, the next lightweight, light heavyweight contender could be a favorable matchup for Alex. Yeah. I will say two things about these sort of like boogeyman fights. I think everyone thought, oh, Shafkat's just going to go in there and steamroll Bilal. He's the boogeyman. I think that sentiment has changed a little bit. And the same with Ankhalaev. I think a lot of people

thought, oh, he's going to just steamroll Alex. At some point, the Alex train is going to end because he's just getting up there in age and he's been fighting for so long, but it's a great shot as well. I want to go with Tom Aspinall. And in fact, as you guys have been speaking, I keep thinking like, should I just go with Tom? But there's a part of me that is worried that this doesn't come to fruition, that he's stuck in limbo and that he doesn't end up fighting and he's put in that Michael Chandler situation. I don't think he, I think Tom is not going to be the kind of guy to like sit around forever, but I still have my doubts. And so I'll go, I'll go in a different direction and I'll go with Murab, Murab Diwali Shvili, because he is fighting in January. I think a lot of people

are forgetting just how good he is for some bizarre reason. He was so dominant against Sean O'Malley and he's been so dominant for years now in the UFC. He's fighting in January, which means he could get three fights in there. And I think if he beats Umar on the 18th of January, a lot of people will be like, you know what, we should be giving this guy a lot more respect. Now, I will continue to say there's a part of me that is worried that he is fighting too many people out there, that he is historically, when we see people fight not only their opponent and the organization, they tend to falter. And so I don't wish that for him and I'm worried about it for him. But I think he figures it out. There's a lot of smart people around him. And I think he could potentially have

a very, very big year because if you look at the rest of the division, there's certainly some tough guys out there, but who has the skillset to beat him? There are guys who are just as good as him and who have tremendous skillsets. His next opponent, Umar, is a supremely tough out, but I don't know if there's any sort of boogeyman out there who everyone's saying like, that guy, that is going to be the kryptonite, right?

Which is what everyone said if and when Sean got to Merab and and look what happened so if you tend to fight early in the year you have a good chance to be fighter of the year however look at alex perry he fought in april and a lot of people think he's the 2024 fighter of the year and that's we all had different answers yeah and uh i had some others that i was considering like i think umar i mean umar i think i don't think umar because i think marab is going to beat umar um i think uh islam islam is going to have a fight in january even if he gets only one more you have to imagine it might

be armin charles right you're looking at some massive wins maybe if he gets even a third you could really have like quite a year uh for islam. The January is going to help him in the same way that your Marab pick. So I think there's a real chance for Islam. And Ilya. Ilya beats Volk again, and then you get one more fight in, maybe two. Maybe it's at lightweight. He's been teasing that. There's a lot of potential for somebody to break out of this pack this year so those those are all good shouts and i'm you know i was i was

debating arman because i i picked it for 2024 and if he beats him and then gets another one in there like if he gets a rematch with charles after beating islam that's two massive wins. Massive. For me, it came down to Armin, Murab, or Aspinall. Yeah. It'll be Alex, though. This is my eggnog, by the way. I don't know if you guys... Nice.

Yeah, you guys like... I had Aspinall, but I think me and Ariel are very, very close to basically the same feeling on that fight with Jones. Just... Yeah.

Not quite sure. Yeah, yeah. Reluctant. We all started so hopeful, and now by end of show, we're all like... same feeling on that fight with Jones. Just not quite sure. Yeah. Yeah. We all started so hopeful and now by end of show, we're all like, oh, this isn't going to happen. Nah, it's going to happen. You feel good.

We need that. We need that energy in the room. Yeah, come on. You put out what you, you get what you put out. It's a hundred percent. It's a hundred percent. It's going to happen. Well, uh, I think 2025 is going to be a great

year. What are you guys going to do? Um, Christmas Eve, what are the plans. What are you guys going to do? Christmas Eve, what are the plans? What are we doing? Is there any ham involved? Is there roast yeast involved? That's usually on Christmas Day for me. But church and then National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

On the day? On Christmas Eve. Okay, and the day? The day you wake up. My nieces and nephews now are very young. So you wait for them to wake up. Where are we? Whose house?

Like what's going on? Parents' house in Atlanta. Whole family is there. So your house has always been home-based or is this- No, I used to go to Florida every year to my grandparents' house. Now it's my parents' house they've taken over. There's like 12 people that come. A couple people have to stay at hotels. Wow. packed out um yeah it rolls deep wake up do the do the kids like they get to open all their presents and everything and then uh the thanksgiving

breakfast casserole i've mentioned so many times also gets served on christmas same one same one it's just so good you only get it twice a year. It's unbelievable. And then you kind of just lounge the rest of the day. Maybe go see a movie if you're bored, if you want to get out of the house, NBA, NFL, and you just enjoy the day, man. It's great. Rick? Plant the presents under the tree,

and the kids are going to open them. That's the plan. It's all about them now at this point. I don't care about... My wife and't don't really do much of that and so it's all about servicing the kids i'm running around planting this stupid elf around the house now like it's just uh it's all about them you guys do that i see that on social media elf on the shelf my my my oldest daughter avery uh love you averyvery, built a house for the elf with a letter in it

begging the elf to come into the house because a schoolmate of hers had said that. And so we do that. We've also got the menorah lit with the grandparents and things like that.

Avery watches the show, eh? Yeah, shout out to Avery. Yeah, she's watching right now. Big fan. Actually, she did watch the show, and the segment that we showed her was your breakdown of your pound-for-pound top predators because your animal list was top tier

in your breakdowns. That was a great one. She's going to be a future zoologist, so we let her watch that. PT the tradition. Yeah, so the houses change. So this year, we're doing the breakfast so the my niece and nephew will come over and my mom and dad will come over my brother and and his wife will come over

and then we'll like make breakfast for everybody uh everyone will bring something like my mom's probably gonna make brown bread we'll start everything else out and then the kids we all we give all the the two kids all their presents then we'll separate for a while so man that will go home luke and sonja will go home and then we'll go to my mom and dad's for for christmas dinner and yeah they just take it easy after that i suppose it's usually hectic i used to i used to get up on christmas day go and see my goddaughter one of my friends daughters and then i'd go and do the the breakfast thing then i'd go and have dinner then i'd go to elaine's house to her parents to say hello it was a hectic day so it's like a script for a movie yeah or christmases and and and now you could sprinkle uh an nfl double header

yeah netflix shut up net, me dad better have that. He's using my Netflix code. It'll be fine. It'll be fine. Well, it sounds great. And I love the fact that you guys do the presents and all that. It sounds like an incredible time.

You know, for my people, instead of one day of presents, we get eight crazy nights. We deserve all eight. Yeah. Thank you, Frank. I appreciate that. That's very kind. What about you?

Is Hanukkah eight nights? It is eight nights. Yeah. We get eight crazy That's very kind. What about you? Is Hanukkah eight nights? It is eight nights. Yeah, we get eight crazy nights. It's like the thing to know about Hanukkah, by the way. When you feel like the only kid in town without a Christmas tree, here's a list of people who are Jewish. I feel like we got to do a holiday album with Helwani. Can we talk about this last year? I feel like this was a thread.

We got to do a Helwani holiday album. David Lee Roth lights the menorah. Sing it, Frank. So do James Concord, Douglas, and the late Dinah Shora. Guess who eats together at the Carnegie Deli? Come on, Frank. Bowser from Shana. The only part I remember is O.J. Simpson. Not a Jew, but guess who is?

That's the only part. Hall of Famer Rod Carew. He converted. By the way, it's all coming together because for the first time, I think, ever, the first night of Hanukkah is on Christmas Day. How about that? If there ever was

a sign that it's all coming together, that we should all be one, all right? That we should all be one faction. That there is no group above the other. Dare I say, there is no chosen people. Whoa, whoa, whoa. You see? You see what I did there

Happy holidays everyone We love you all And on Friday we're going to be back For a year in review Of the year that was In European MMA It'll be The Crack with PC Carroll They'll be taking the baton

And you know if things pop up as far as breaking news And what not Okay maybe we won't Speak for yourself Next week though We will have A fun deep dive into some classic Interviews

And this is something we'll do throughout the coming year But we'll do our first installation of this On the 30th of December That is the plan so stay tuned for that And then we'll do our first installation of this on the 30th of December. That is the plan, so stay tuned for that. And then we'll have a look ahead, similar fashion, to the year to come in European MMA, led by the great

Pizzi Carroll and the team over there at The Crack. Was something sent to me here? Saw something pop up. Was there something sent? I was saying goodbye. No? We were just asking if we're doing bold predictions. Oh yeah, you know what? I forgot about the bold predictions. You there something sent? I was saying goodbye. No? Yes? We were just asking if we're doing bold predictions. Oh, yeah.

You know what? I forgot about the bold predictions. You could get them. I was literally about to say goodbye. Well, we forgot bold predictions, and then obviously- We went down this whole fun- And then we forgot to do the biggest mystery of 2025 as well. I almost feel like let's just drop our bold predictions, say nothing, and just go.

Just one thing. Yeah, biggest bold predictions as the music hits? Wait, wait, wait. What's the biggest mystery? That's Mysterious Frank's category that he was supposed to be in. Oh, fuck. I screwed this up multiple times. And were we intentionally not telling me about this?

No, it's in the text. It's in the group chat. No, it's not. I thought it was in the Slack, too. We can't do it? I screwed it. I screwed it. And the WhatsApp.

You know what screwed us? Jordan and Frank talked about it. And the what's up. You know what screwed us? Jordan and Frank. Bold prediction. Bold prediction. What is it? Rick, bold prediction. I tried to be very bold. Rumblings are going to begin. The pot is going to boil.

Francis Ngannou returned to the UFC. Wow. Let me tell you something. There's a better chance of me, Turkey, and Dana having what I need. Okay, let me, all right. I said no explanation, but I'm going to explain. It's a bold prediction. I'm going to explain.

All right. One fight left. Yeah. UFC can't make Jon Jones versus Tom Aspinall. What can we do? How can we make good on this? How do we establish Tom Aspinall? Francis Ngannou returns to the UFC.

It's not a bad shot. By the way, Pete, do you remember my bold prediction on the Ringer show? I can't believe you're actually saying this. Yeah, it was great, but I mean, I'm a three-year, three years I've got to make my prediction, and you're going to make this about you. Go ahead. It was fantastic.

Go ahead. What was your bold prediction this year? No, no, I thought you'd size it up. I thought there'd be music playing before I made my bowl prediction. So you're just like a reigning bowl prediction champ. Blanchard-Damas. Blanchard-Damas. What was it? I forget.

I forget that. Blanchard-Damas, 2022. Leon Edwards KOs Usman to win the World Cup. Wow. 2023, Amanda Nunes retires. 2024, Conor McGregor v. Michael Chandler does not happen. He did. And you can say that's rich.

He did say all those. You can say that's rich, but everybody thought, everyone was like, it's for sure happening this year. And I, once again, was balked at, was scoffed at. People were throwing fruit at me in the streets. And once again, I was right. Okay, this is the perfect show. Wait, wait.

Okay, yeah, go ahead. 2025, what is it? 2025, what's the bold prediction? You're not going to like what I have to say about 2025 You're not going to like what I have to say about this John Jones stripped of the heavyweight title Yeah I could see it wow

And then we get what Tom Aspinall Cyril Ghosn for the Francis The prediction is what it is Also you're Doing a victory lap about the Connor thing zero gone for the Francis. Listen, the prediction is what it is. Also, you're doing a victory lap about the Conor thing.

I bet that Conor McGregor would fight in 2024 and it was plus 200 and the no was minus 300. So, your bold prediction. When did you bet?

I bet in January. January and December. Yeah. Lit it up. Burns it on fire. I like Pizzi's indignation Respect the pronunciation 22, 23, 24 It is a great name

May I remind you that My prediction was that Kayla Harrison was going to sign with the UFC And fight at 135 pounds Insider trade Insider trade Insider trade Insider trade. I was going to say insider info. Insider trade. Insider info. This is crazy.

Insider trade. This is crazy. It was pretty much a done deal. And I remember you guys reacted like, what? And I was like, yeah, you know what? She fought on UFC 300. The contract, the ink was already dry when you were like, she's going to sign with the UFC.

And she's going to fight at 135 pounds. It was so wild. I know. You you were like, he's going to sign with the UFC. And she's going to fight at 135 pounds. It was so wild. I know. You guys were like, what? And I was like, you know, I'm going off the reservation. I'm just going to go crazy on this one. I love how Ariel's prediction wasn't a prediction and Pete's for this year wasn't even bold.

Jon Jones is going to strip. I mean, that's going to happen next week. What's the bold for this year? Then we should get rid of the conversation. We said it would be one of the biggest stories of the year. John Jones, Tom Osmo. We should just scrap that then. Fair play.

Good counter. What's the bold for this year? Okay. Here we go. Wait, wait, wait. Look at my notepad. This is more insider info. Jordan could attest to this.

And I had one pick and then I changed it Because I didn't want to put that negative energy But my original pick And he has it in writing My original pick was Jon Jones will not fight Tom Aspinall And then I felt like it wasn't very bold I felt like that's just kind of

A prediction right So then I changed it to The UFC for the first time will split up its tv rights package and now i'm starting to feel like that's not very bold either what do you got what's the third what's the third bullet overlapping categories here may what's the third bullet hit us i'm gonna go there is no insider info here let me just preface this okay hold on here we go Running to the window to bet on this

The UFC Will acquire In a transaction With the PFL The rights to Dakota Decheva Okay I love that That is great That is a great one

They will make a deal And by the end of the year she'll be In the UFC Who are they giving back or we're not making that prediction Just the Dakota part Fair enough I do believe that he's not in sort of training Because there's no way in hell PFL would be

Even entertaining a conversation like that right now No way I'm telling you there's no way in hell PFL would be even entertaining a conversation like that right now. No. No way. Listen, I'm telling you there's no entire trade. We're going to be in trouble here. I'm saying Francis, you're saying Dakota. Back to you. I like it. I like it. GC? I've actually alluded to it a couple times throughout the show. I think we will get

not one, not two, but three chances of someone going for a double champ status In 2025 One will be successful That's a great one That's a huge prediction I don't know how many will win

I'm just saying one will win Someone will hold the belt simultaneously We will get a new double champ We could see Zhang Weili go up We could see Alex Pereira go up We could see Islam Makhachev go up I mean the way Ilya Teporya is talking We could see Ilyaira go up. We could see Islam Makhachev go up. I mean, the way Ilya Teporia is talking,

we could see Ilya Teporia go up. Hamzat Shumayev wins the belt and then immediately says, let's go do a super fight against Alex Pereira, 205. That's my bold prediction. I like it. We get three shots at double champ status and one of them succeeds. I like that one.

My bold prediction right before we hit record on this program is that this would be a tight 60 minute show And no one believed me We're going to start at 5.15 right? And no one believed me And here we are in the 84th minute Frank, you can tell everybody This is the song

I love how a tight 60 minutes We're going like 45% over that. It's always, if you say 60, it's always 90. You know, that's, if I say 90, it's... Why don't we just say 90 and then we go 84 and you're just like, I fucking told you. I like to give the hope. No, no, we know the Helwani math already. You don't have to inform us.

Bold prediction for next year? This number. This is going to happen over and over again. Listen, it's like post shows are 10. Do we have Frank's bold prediction? Frank, what's your bold prediction? My bold prediction is Jordan and I are going to have a falling out. Jesus.

And then... Jordan's doing the Israel. Fuck me. What? By the end of the year, we're going to be like... We won't be ever falling out anymore We're not gonna be best friends Wow This feels weird

Something happened while we were recording this obviously This does feel like a little bit of What's it called when you like Make it happen Not manifestation I'll think of it by the time Self fulfilling prophecy That is it Ariel

Frank is trying to Will it into existence To Make his move To start a beef That's it What's beef? Is it a beef

Or is it a war? The war of the front bench Yeah this is the front Frankie Andy is Switzerland Andy is Switzerland Yeah Andy is Switzerland Should be the first casualty.

Can we talk about how the land y'all have there is just like 10x what me and Rick are working with. This is another mention of real estate back there. Me and Rick are just like this tiny island back here. Me and Rick are literally shoulder to shoulder back here. I mean, look at the real estate. It is. This is showing half their land. It is quite nice.

We're on a folding table. Happy holidays, everyone. We love you all. Thank you for watching 2025. Figures to be a very fun year in the world of combat sports. Of course, we just focused on MMA. We could have done another 90. Shall we do a 90-minute show on the 2025 year?

Let's do it. Roll into it. Boxing and then pro wrestling. I'm sleeping here tonight anyway. BKFC. I'm using do it. Roll into it. Boxing and then pro wrestling. I'm sleeping here tonight anyway. BKFC. I'm using the shower. Grappling. Most importantly,

we thank you all for your support over the past year. Imagine we would have done a preview show at the beginning of 2024 and said, where will we end up?

That was really the story of the year, but we just didn't want to make it about ourselves. And look at us now, fully up and running, operational, crushing it,

the uncrowned kings of the combat sports media world. It's been a great time. I hope you all enjoy your holidays. If you are celebrating with your family and friends, and again, if you happen to, you know, for whatever reason, be alone on this holiday season, remember, better days are ahead, great times are ahead, and there's a ton of content that you can watch on our YouTube channel, but of course a ton out there that you can do and have fun watching or partaking in

as you look ahead to what will surely be, I can feel it in my bones, I'm speaking to you out there, Mr. or Madam, surely be a great year for you for us for humanity peace on earth peace on earth i was hoping at some point in all that the music would kick in so that i wouldn't have but i wanted like it felt like a wrapping up yeah taylor serrano three serrano win oh that's a good one, but that's boxing. That's the boxing show, friends. So you wanted a bold prediction.

I've given you two. You can tell everybody. We do have to work on the Helwani holiday album. I think I can handle it. I mean, I'm not great with the instruments. My daughter's actually really good at the piano. Oh, that'd be sick.

Here's my new 2025 bold prediction. By the end of the year, we get a press release. Coming. Oh. 2026. Sweet 16. Oh. Story of the UFC in 2016 by Ariel Helwan.

Yeah. Forward by Pete C. Carroll. Wow. Why the fuck did you get Pete C. Carroll to do your forward? Chook's going to be very upset. Yeah. Forward by Pete C. Carroll. Wow. Why the fuck did you get Pete C. Carroll to do your forward? Chook's gonna be very upset. Yeah.

Forward by Conor McGregor. I was gonna say, I thought you were gonna say, like, uncrowned pay-per-view interview Dana White

in studio. Yeah, Dana White's definitely coming. Sorry, 2025 to 2045, I like wow geez maybe all right remember rick back in the day we used to do the thing like we wanted to get one guest i i gave up on the day in a while we had lorenzo for a while honestly some years i picked one and then it happened. Yeah. The Rock was one of my picks. And then the next year we had you interview him.

I shot my shot. Yeah. Anyway, a great look ahead. We'll let you know how we did around this time next year. All right. So stay tuned for that. For now, though, happy holidays. Much love.

Good night.